If you’re Scottish and have even an inkling about charities then Sense Scotland need little in the way of introduction. Sense Scotland just celebrated its 30th anniversary, and has spent all of that time providing support services to thousands of disabled people and their families, through a number of different projects across Scotland.

Created by a small group of families that felt there was a lack of support available for their deafblind children, Sense Scotland was built on the core values of openness, honesty, trust and accountability. It recognises the worth of individuals and aims to act on the basis of each service user’s aspirations and needs.

As mentioned last week, empowerment certainly seems to be the key thing which unites the vast array of different organisations that operate as social enterprises, and Sense Scotland certainly see this as a top priority.

On this week’s episode I have part one of my conversation with Andy Kerr, the Chief Executive of Sense Scotland. One of the things he speaks about at length is the sense of empowerment that their services give its users. But perhaps just as interesting, is how candid he is about the tough decisions that he’s had to make in his time as Chief Executive, and how making such calls with honesty, openness and integrity is the best way to sustain the future of the business.

It is this balance of head and heart which is crucial to the successful leadership of any organisation, and the tough decisions that senior management teams must make can have far reaching consequences if not taken appropriately and correctly. Andy goes into some detail about this in the first part of this interview, and I think it gives a fascinating insight into the decision-making process of company executives.

I hope you enjoy the episode.

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Podcast developer at Kibble. You’ll usually find me online tweeting about social enterprise, child and youth care or third sector issues, in the office huddled over a microphone, or at home listening to Prince. Always ask questions, learn new things and be positive.